Van Halen puts on high-energy show

As I made my way to my seat through the crowds of middle aged men and women, all wearing worn-out concert shirts from just about any '80s hair band you can imagine, the anticipation was intense:

One of the greatest rock bands of all time was about to perform, and all of the members were still alive.

The chanting for Eddie Van Halen began even before the lights dimmed, and his outstretched arm from behind the wall of speaker cabinets set the crowd cheering for more.

Finally, the band made its way on stage to kick off the night at the Hartford Civic Center on Monday with "Jump." At first it was a little hard to make out the vocals over the rest of the band and the crowd, but it was all taken care of soon enough.

Sammy Hagar was all over the stage and was full of energy. When he introduced one of the new songs, "Up for Breakfast," the audience went wild.

Each band member took his turn with a solo that lasted about 20 minutes each. Michael Anthony was first and made his way on stage with a bass guitar in the shape of a Jack Daniels bottle. He kept the energy flowing as he put his ear up against his speakers and strummed away as the crowd cheered louder. About halfway through his solo, he opened a hidden compartment on his guitar and pulled out a mini bottle of Jack Daniels, which he proceeded to chug and then toss into the crowd.

The rest of the band came back out for "Somebody Get Me a Doctor" and "It's About Time." Alex van Halen's drum solo was next. Not many drummers can hold their own for 20 minutes, but he didn't have any trouble. The green and white strobe lights added to the excitement. Alex had any every drum he could want at his disposal, including three bass drums, a few Plexiglas toms, and a giant gong mounted right behind his seat. Eddie wasn't lying when he came back on stage and said "It don't get no f***ing better than that."

When the lights came back up, Sammy was standing right in front of the giant screen at least 10 feet above the stage. The energy was really starting to ratchet up. Oddly, the guy standing next to me figured it would be a good time to go for a walk. He must have been the only one in the building who wasn't impressed because everybody else was on their feet and singing along.

The band was obviously having a great time and they signed just about any T-shirt or hat that was thrown on stage while they played. Sammy took his solo on "Eagles Fly" and played guitar for the first time that night while giving the rest of the band a few minutes to rest.

After "Why Can't This Be Love?" and "Best of Both Worlds," which sounded like they were straight off the original recording, Eddie showed yet again why he's one of the greatest guitarists around. He began his solo with his trademark finger-tapping style and proceeded on to some other wild tricks, including tweaking the volume knobs with one hand while playing with the other and putting the head of the guitar upside down to the stage to produce the craziest sustain I have ever heard. Then, as he took another drag from his cigarette and sat down on the edge of the stage, his son Wolfgang walked out to jam with him. They got a great response from the audience and after Wolfgang left, Eddie went on to finish his solo Eruption style.

The lights came back up and Mike and Alex came back out and started to play "Higher and Higher" with Sammy nowhere to be seen. Soon everyone was pointing up to the scaffolding-like walkway above the stage where Sammy was singing in his new American flag T-shirt printed with the phrase "VAN HALEN KICKS ASS." He made his way back down to sing "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" and thrusting the mic into the crowd so people could sing with him.

The energy in the Civic Center hit a high point with the finale "Right Now." Someone tossed a hand-painted banner on stage that said " RIGHT NOW I'M AT MY FIRST VAN HALEN CONCERT," which Sammy signed and draped around his shoulder as he continued to sing before he tossed it back. The audience wasn't about to leave the building without an encore, though, so the band came back out for "You Really Got Me," "Panama" and, despite a little protest from Sammy, who appeared to be about to pass out on stage, "When It's Love."

It was a great end to an incredible concert, and it was great to see some real rock 'n' roll back on stage.